The Ethiopian Athletics Team which headed to Doha to compete in the 17th edition of the World Athletics Championship has returned home yesterday evening.
The team had a warm welcome from higher government officials up on its arrival at the Bole International Airport.
The Ethiopian team won two gold, five silver and a bronze medals to finish fifth from the world and second from Africa in the medal table.
The team has bagged two gold, five silver and one bronze medals in the competition and finished 5th in the world and 2nd in Africa.
The championship was held between 27 September and 6 October 2019 in Doha, Qatar, at the renovated multi-purpose Khalifa International Stadium.
Nearly 2000 athletes from 209 nations competed in 49 athletics events over the ten-day competition, comprising 24 events each for men and women, plus a mixed relay. There were 43 track and field events, 4 race-walking events, and 2 marathon road running events. The race-walking and marathon events were held in Doha Corniche.
It was the first edition of the competition under its modified name, having previously been known as the World Championships in Athletics. It was the first time the competition was in the Middle East and also the first time it was held in October. Due to the hot climate, there were no morning sessions and events were held in the late afternoon onward.
The performances at the championships were the best ever, with the average performance (per IAAF Scoring tables) surpassing that of the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. Three world records were set and six championships records were broken.
A total of 43 nations reached the medal table and 68 nations had an athlete with a top eight finish. Based on the IAAF scoring tables, the best male and female performers were men’s shot put gold medallist Joe Kovacs and women’s long jump champion Malaika Mihambo.